Chapter Twenty-One
He hunted. The monster inside Sevastyan clawed for freedom and there was no holding it back this time as the thirst for vengeance took over him and he fully gave in to the lust of blood he’d felt for months.
It tore through him with a life of its own, and he reveled in the darkness.
He was vaguely aware of rain pelting the ground as he tore across the field. Smoky wafts of fog trailed behind Dimitris, curling along the floor thick on a moonless night.
Matteo fought at his side, tearing through one fucker after another—like paper dolls they dropped. Blood dripped from their hands yet the monster in him grew thirstier.
Sevastyan tore through the darkness, his senses homed in on one man who thought the night could hide him from justice.
Saliva pooled in his mouth. Beside him, a man no more than twenty reeked of foolish decisions. He fell to the ground, his limp body a crumbled mess the second Matteo released him.
“Go!” Matteo shouted, heaving ragged breaths. Blood of their enemies dripped from his hands too. “I’ll go back for her. You can’t let him escape.”
Sevastyan gave a stiff nod and tore off after his prey, following the stench of death until he found the man at a stand-off with Maddox in the middle of a clearing off the side of the mansion. Behind them, the elite who so willingly stepped into the depravity with Dimitris didn’t think fighting by his side was all that appealing. The men not on his payroll faded into the night.
He approached Maddox who gave him a stiff nod. “She’s safe, bleeding but not dead.”
“Having a simple man like him do your dirty work, Volkov?” Dimitris’ tight expression and the trickle of fear that clung to the air didn’t reflect the humor in his words.
Maddox growled in response. “I’m not the one hiding behind bodyguards who are barely old enough to clean their asses.”
“Go find Rhia. Get her out of here.” She didn’t need to see what he was about to do. Maddox peeled off and stood to the side, knowing this was Sevastyan’s fight alone.
Sevastyan lunged and swung, catching Dimitris across the jaw with one blow and then another. He didn’t stop until blood dripped and he heard the crunch of bone under his fists.
Dimitris blocked every blow with his face, bellowing in protest. “You fucking beast,” he roared, stumbling back, a river of blood pooling on the ground by his feet. “All of you should be dead,” he hurled the venomous words at him, spittle flying through the air, but the bite of words had little effect.
Sevastyan tucked and rolled, narrowly missing a blade as it hurled through the air, reaching for him like death in the night.
“You spent months looking for the man who killed your brother. How pathetic. Under your nose the whole time.”
Sevastyan blocked everything but this moment from his mind. The black rage for his father, the aching gap in his chest at the loss of his brother. The death of his mother. Words were nothing to him. Only the need to sate his monstrous hunger overpowered his senses and claimed his attention.
Lightning tore through the night, catching his opponent by surprise. He used that moment to plant a meaty fist in the man’s face and a blade into his thigh. He ripped, swung, and ripped again.
Dimitris stumbled back. Blood oozed from the chunk of missing thigh.
Humorless laughter spilled from Dimitris’ bloody mouth. The faster he wiped the faster the slash over his lips bled. “Your brother was my right hand until he grew a conscience along with the waste of father your woman had. None of them could see bigger picture and only got in my way. Until you. You see it, yet you push it away. Don’t be fool. We could do great. Da. Yes. Great. Tell me I’m wrong.”
“The longer you talk the slower your death,” Sevastyan warned. He didn’t want the level of filth, of corruption, and greed on him. He knew the chaos and rot it brought to anyone it brushed against. He saw the evidence of it with Mikhail. His father. What other proof did he need? Friends turning on friends. Brothers turning on brothers.
Water drenched them both, washing away the blood, but nothing could erase the taste of death he sought. Anger and rage poured through him untamed. He moved in, swiping left then right. They turned, fists locked together as they fell to the ground. Dimitris reared back, swinging hard, catching him across the jaw once and then the ribs. He absorbed the blows and laughed in his face.
Sevastyan swiped at the soft belly of the monster pinning him to the wet ground and received a shriek in return. Dimitris rolled and Sevastyan flipped pinning him with his weight, arm like an iron bar across his throat.
“Kill me, but I’m not only one craving power and money. You know I’m telling truth.”
Sevastyan pressed harder, craving the torturous gurgle of pain emitting from his prey.
Soft footfalls came up from behind.
He tensed.
“Sevastyan, this isn’t you.” Rhia. Her voice was filled with urgency. Fear. The fog suffocating his brain, his senses, dissipated a fraction, enough for him to sense his woman’s closeness. Her presence cost him. Distracted by her, he missed the gun in Dimitris’ hand and caught the force of a bullet to the shoulder for his mistake.
He flew back and landed hard. He rose, shook off the pain. Lucky for him in his weakened state Dimitris couldn’t aim well. He inspected the flesh wound and laughed.